Plans for the Highway 14 Realignment Project in Sooke are moving forward as the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructured release the updated plans for the final design stage.
The design for the project has been renewed after listening to feedback from local residents in the Sooke area. The Consultation Summary Report has been released.
Public feedback for the project was taken from December 3, 2019 to Jan 15 2020. On the first day open for feedback, 150 people attended an open house to look at the designs and gave their immediate thoughts. The Ministry also received more than 200 submissions online or by letter.
The public’s input and ideas led to the revised planned design of the Connie Road to Glinz Lake Road portion of the project.
A new pedestrian underpass will be added to Highway 14 just east of Glinz Lake Road and Polymede Place to support active transportation in the region.
New bus bays in both directions will be added to Highway 14 at Glinz Lake Road and Polymede Place for transit users.
The previously proposed Cooper’s Cove U-turn has been removed. Instead, a connector road between Manzer Road and Gillespie Road will allow Manzer Road residents to hop on and off the highway by using the new Gillespie Road grade-separated intersection.
“This connector will provide an alternative emergency detour connection for Highway 14 between Glinz Lake Road and Gillespie Road,” said the Ministry in a release on Wednesday.
The plan also includes adding greenspace for animals, by increasing culvert sizes and median barriers with road-level holes will be strategically placed to help keep small mammals from being trapped on the highway.
Approximately 30 streetlights will be added near side-road intersections to improve visibility.
The latest project designs for the Highway 14 Improvement Project and the Consultation Summary Report can be viewed on the government’s website.
The Highway 14 Improvement Project also includes widening and realigning approximately 1.5 kilometres of road between Glinz Lake Road and Connie Road, a new “park and ride” lot on Gillespie Road, and pavement resurfacing and shoulder widening along over 10 kilometres between Otter Point Road and Woodhaven Road.
The Ministry says a portion of the project from Otter Point Road to Woodhaven Road will be tendered this spring. Following the completion of the final design, the Highway 14 realignment will go to tender this summer.
The coast of the corridor improvements come in at $85.7 million, with the Government of Canada contributing up to $30,233,000 through the New Building Canada Fund, and the Government of British Columbia providing up to $55,482,000.
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Rebecca Lawrence
